The Public Has No Idea How Much Of A Threat Emerging Markets Are To The US

Recently, the results of the second year of Harvard Business School's survey on US competitiveness were released. This time, in addition to asking both the public and of business leaders how the economy was doing, the survey asked their opinions of specific policies.

It's a look not at what people think about the lurch from crisis to crisis, but about the long term prospects of the country, given current policy.

When it comes to the economy, the public is much more optimistic than business leaders. While they're somewhat worried about our position against emerging economies, more than half think we're keeping pace or pulling ahead.

Business leaders on the other hand, many of whom work at companies fighting to enter emerging markets, are deeply concerned about the US falling behind. Overall, leaders predicting a decline outnumber those predicting a gain two to one:

On the policy front, there's a substantial amount of agreement on what we could do better. A fairly strong majority of both business leaders and the general population want corporate tax reform, infrastructure investment, a more balanced budget, and responsibly developed energy.

On the other hand, the general population has a low opinion of a territorial tax code, and isn't nearly as much in favor of skilled immigration.

Still, if there's one takeaway, it's that both business leaders and the general population acknowledge that America's trajectory is worrisome, and there are quite a few things they have no trouble agreeing should be done right away.